The Office of the NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer invites you to the 2022 Science & Research Breakfast Seminar Series.
The Science & Research Breakfast Seminar Series showcases excellence in research and development which is generating economic, environmental, social and technological benefits for New South Wales. The series will again feature some of the state’s best and brightest, and highlight its tremendous research strength across a diverse range of disciplines.
For more information, please call the Office of the NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer on (02) 9228 5762.
2022 Science & Research Breakfast Seminar Series
2022 BREAKFAST SEMINAR CALENDAR
Wednesday 29 June 2022

Professor Judith Dawes
Macquarie University
Photonics: Making Light Work
GET YOUR TICKETS HERE
Photonics is the science and technology of light, and photonics-enabled technologies currently underpin about 10 per cent of the global economy.
Professor Judith Dawes is Director of MQ Photonics Research Centre at Macquarie University. Judith will show the myriad ways that photonics contributes to our society, including in communications, sensing, advanced manufacturing, defence and healthcare. Judith will discuss how:
- light carries information to our eyes as images, with relevance to areas from healthcare to security
- by using light to carry information, optical fibres form the backbone of our internet, delivering ever-increasing amounts of data ‘at the speed of light’
- light carries information in free space, for example where radio and microwave communications offer insufficient bandwidth or are deemed insecure
- certain wavelengths (colours) of light can be used to detect and quantify chemicals – from cancer biomarkers to pollutants
- light delivers energy, making lasers versatile tools for surgery and dentistry.
About the Speaker
Judith Dawes
Professor of Physics and Director of MQ Photonics Research Centre at Macquarie University
Judith researches light interactions at the nanoscale to develop applications of nanotechnology for communications and sensing. Her research achievements include the invention of a new nonlinear optical laser material, Yb:YAB, and the invention of a laser-cured protein solder for microsurgery.
Judith obtained her BSc (Hons) and PhD from the University of Sydney and also studied at the University of Rochester (NY). She was
a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto before joining Macquarie University.
She serves as Director at Large (2022–2024) for Optica (formerly OSA), the leading international optical society. Judith also previously served as Treasurer for Science and Technology Australia and President of the Australian Optical Society.
Judith was a chief investigator in CUDOS, an Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence, and is a Fellow of Optica, SPIE and the Royal Society of NSW.
Wednesday 11 May 2022

2021 NSW Scientist of the Year Professor Jim Patrick AO
Cochlear and Macquarie University
The Cochlear Implant as a Treatment of Severe to Profound Hearing Loss
* Due to technical difficulties with the Parliament of NSW AV system, this video does not contain footage of the speaker, but rather the presentation slides and Professor Patrick's accompanying narration. We apologise for any inconvenience.
Wednesday 30 March 2022

Professor Hala Zreiqat AM
The University of Sydney
The Challenges in Engineering Human Tissue
2021 Science & Research Breakfast Seminar Series
Wednesday 8 December 2021

Distinguished Professor Ian Paulsen
Macquarie University
Synthetic Biology: Inspired by Nature, Designed by Science
NOTE: there is an error in slide 32 of this presentation. The chromatogram shown in the bottom right of the slide is old data that has not been reproduced.
Wednesday 14 July 2021

Professor Francois Aguey-Zinsou
UNSW Sydney
Hydrogen Science and the Future of Australia
Wednesday 19 May 2021

Distinguished Professor Belinda Medlyn
Western Sydney University
Climate Change and Australian Vegetation: Where Are We Headed?
Wednesday 31 March 2021

2020 NSW Scientist of the Year
Professor Edward Holmes
The University of Sydney
The Discovery and Origins of SARS-CoV-2
2020 Science & Research Breakfast Seminar Series
Wednesday 2 December 2020

Distinguished Professor Antoine van Oijen
University of Wollongong
Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance, from Molecule to Community
Wednesday 21 October 2020

Distinguished Professor Dayong Jin
University of Technology Sydney
Harnessing Nanophotonics for the Early Detection of Coronavirus
Wednesday 19 August 2020

Senior Professor Ross Bradstock
University of Wollongong
The Science of Bushfire Risk
Wednesday 1 July 2020

Professor Liz Pellicano
Macquarie University
Knowing Autism
Wednesday 20 May 2020

Professor Dietmar Müller
The University of Sydney
The Future of Geoscience in Australia
Wednesday 26 February 2020

2019 NSW Scientist of the Year
Scientia Professor Rose Amal AC
UNSW Sydney
Harnessing Solar Energy To Power Our Planet
2019
Tuesday 3 December 2019

Professor Geordie Williamson
Director of the Mathematical Research Institute
The University of Sydney
Light, Sound and the Magic of the Fourier Transform
Wednesday 16 October 2019

Liesl Yearsley
CEO and Co-Founder, a·kin
The Co-Evolution of AI and Humanity
Tuesday 13 August 2019

Dr Cathy Foley
CSIRO Chief Scientist
Future Science 2040
Wednesday 19 June 2019

Professor Maria Kavallaris
Children's Cancer Institute and Australian Centre for NanoMedicine, UNSW Sydney
How Nanomedicine is Changing Cancer Treatment
Tuesday 30 April 2019

Professor Michael J. Biercuk
The University of Sydney and Q-CTRL
Building the Quantum Economy
Wednesday 27 February 2019

2018 NSW Scientist of the Year
Laureate Professor Nick Talley AC
The University of Newcastle
Uncovering the Secrets of Serious Gut Disorders
2018
Wednesday 28 November 2018

Dr Pasi Sahlberg
Gonski Institute for Education, UNSW Sydney
Finnish Lessons: Increasing Equity and Opportunity in
Australia's Education System Through Research
Wednesday 10 October 2018

Associate Professor Muireann Irish
School of Psychology, the University of Sydney
Memory in Dementia - Past, Present and Future
Wednesday 15 August 2018

Professor David Currow
Chief Cancer Officer, NSW and Chief Executive Officer,
Cancer Institute NSW
How Cancer Outcomes Can Continue to Improve
Wednesday 6 June 2018

Scientia Professor Veena Sahajwalla
Director of UNSW Sydney's Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT)
Green Microfactories: Products from Waste
Wednesday 9 May 2018

Professor Justin Gooding
Scientia Professor in the School of Chemistry at
UNSW Sydney and founding co-director of the
Australian Centre for NanoMedicine
How Sensors are Changing Our World
Wednesday 21 February 2018

2017 NSW Scientist of the Year
Professor Gordon Wallace AO
University of Wollongong
3D Printing, Bioprinters and Clinical Application
2017
Wednesday 22 November 2017

Distinguised Professor Lesley Hughes
Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Integrity and Development) and Professor of Biology at Macquarie University
Climate Change Frustration:
What Role the Public Scientist?
Wednesday 8 November 2017

Dr Peter Svensson
Vinnova - Sweden's Innovation Agency
Openness and Innovation:
Possibilities for New South Wales
Wednesday 18 October 2017

Professor Richard Roberts
Director of the new ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage at the University of Wollongong
Our Story: The Epic Human and Environmental History of Australia
Wednesday 9 August 2017

Professor Louise Baur AM
The University of Sydney
Tackling Childhood Obesity:
From the Clinic to Global Policy
Wednesday 28 June 2017

2016 NSW Scientist of the Year
Rick Shine AM, Professor in Evolutionary Biology at
The University of Sydney
Winner of the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science
Conversation in Cold Blood:
Researching Reptiles
Wednesday 5 April 2017

Mr Nick Kaye
CEO, Sydney School of Entrepreneurship
An Ecosystem, Satellites and a Stage:
Setting up Sydney’s School of Entrepreneurship
Wednesday 1 February 2017

Dr Simon Poole
Director, New Business Ventures at Finisar Australia
Ideas & Execution:
The Yin and Yang of Innovation